So much for “drill, baby, drill” — both California GOP gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, in the wake of the BP oil spill are backing away from the Sarah Palin mantra, even as they take differing positions on offshore drilling.

Former eBay CEO Whitman said Friday that she has “always” been opposed to offshore oil drilling — but that conflicts with statements she has made before the devastating BP oil disaster in Louisiana.

Here’s her visit to Redwood City today, where she spoke to reporters before a stop at Graniterock, a local cement plant. Our own humble Shaky Hand Productions was on hand when she was asked by the Chronicle, ABC-7’s Mark Matthews and KTVU’s Randy Shandobil on oil drilling and environmental issues. She insisted she has “historically been against oil drilling” and asked if she supports the Palin “drill, baby, drill,” philosophy, she said: “I would actually be on a different side of that issue.” Check it out:

At the Pasasdena Republican Club, she also expressed the view that while she has been “skeptical” about drilling offshore, she was encouraged by “tremendous technological advancements in drilling oil across the globe,” including slant drilling. With the continued American dependence on foreign oil, she said “this is probably the right thing to do in the interest of California and the interests of the United States of America.”

Even earlier at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, she championed the position of 2008 presidential candidate John McCain — whom she advised. She told the convention that McCain “will push relentlessly for the right energy policies, from lifting the ban on offshore drilling, to building more nuclear reactors, to promoting conservation and alternative forms of energy.”

And here’s what Poizner had to say Friday in San Carlos on oil drilling, AB32 and “drill, baby, drill,” also captured by yours truly at our (getting exhausted) Shaky Hand Productions.

On whether he supported the “drill, baby, drill” philosphy, Poizner said, “That’s not the way I’d put it.” But he stuck to his position that in light of current consumption demands and the necessity to get away from imported oil, California should engage in offshore drilling as long as its safe, and he cited slant drilling techniques.